Connecticut western news., 1887-10-19
JUANITA'S-FATE.
BY HUBERT II. BANCROFT.

In the carly mining days of Califor- nia it was very rarely that the rough men laid hands upon woman to mete out justice to her. About the only sen timcnt that had w1thstood the hard life of the mines was that laid in earlier days by the the tender influence of mother, sister or wife, and this had become soft y intensified So woven among the fibers of the heart was it, so mingled with the sensuous blood, so wrapped within the folds of passionate imagination that,
 ike ash-covercd coals, the drearer the ,spect without the warmer glowed the ire within. It mattered not so much to them who or what she was ;she might be chaste and fair or as wicked as Jezebel, she was the impersonation of their fan cy-ridden brain, the expression of their innermost ideal of the beautiful and good. Then wild, indeed, must have been the fury that maddened them against woman; and never was insen-
 sate wrath more manifest than among the miners of the Yuba for miles on either side of Downieville, when on the morning of July 5, 1851, it was known that comrade had been slain, butchered with long, sharp knife, by woman. Sex was suddenly lost sight of, obliterated by the whirl of passion, which left nothing in sight but the bloody decd. Joe Cannon killed Cut to the heart by woman! The words were appalling. Joe was the favorite of the camp, the finest fellow that ever swung pick or dislodged a powder. He was over six feet high, straight as poplar, with limbs as clear as those of newly parked madrona. His nearly 240 pounds of weight was all muscular, his chest was like that of an OK, and the arms of Hercules hung from his shoulders. And yet he would not harm Q fly; though his sinews were hard his heart was softness itself. Joe gone Stabbed to death, and by woman! Joe was the soul of honor. He knew noth- ing of cheating and chicanery. He was not very learned, being single and sim pie ip his thoughts, and double dealing found no place in his nature He liked his occasional frolics, but, though he could laugh and carouse with the best of them, he was kinder in his cups, il possible, than out of them. There was no poison in his heart that the fiery liquid could bring to the surface. IT nobleness he was giant, in guile child. Joe Cannon dead! Stabbed 1T the breast and by a woman!
 Slowly the full force of the truth wa
 realized. All along the muddy Tub; and up its discolored tributaries tn, tidings spread from claim to claim lik, an electric message, until for mile
 around Downieville were heard the erie
 of "Murderw "Joc Cannon killed! l!
 "Cut to'the heart by woman!' The, dropped pick, pan, and shovel; wate
 was left to run to waste and the golt
 unwatched in the bottom of the sluic
 boxes from up and down the Tuba an,
 from its discolored tributaries a stream
 of angry miners began to pour int
 town. Five thousand men were gathere,
 in Downieville that day. Minglin
 with the miners that thronged tn
 streets were traders, packers, gamblers
 politicians, and professional rascals
 The deed was done at 10 o'clock, and i
 an hour later @ dense crowd presse
 around the unfinished tenement of spli
 boards into which the unfortunate ma
 was carried. Within lay the dyin
 miner upon puncheon floor. Standin
 around the prostrate form were half
 score of miners fresh from their work
 with woolen shirt sleeves rolled u
 above the elbows and overal tucked into the tops of the ponderous and muddy boots. Sllen ly and solemnly they stood with grizzle heads uncovered and slightly bowed while on the contracted brows and con pressed lips sorrow and anger struggle
 for mastery. Silence within and witi out, until at length the murdered mint ceased to breathe; then from the dee
 stiffness faint murmur began, whie
 gradually grew to low and terrib buzz. Fresh arrivals came pouring il Strangers asked, Who is hea WI 5 killed him2 Where is the murderel , Presently the centre of the mass bega to surge in definite direction; the were full enough of purpose the ] Most significant of all was the almo Q silent buzz, which was the low purrir t of the blood thirsty beast about . spring upon its prey. She was only 2 U and little woman, too. Scarcely ii a feet in height, with slender, symmetl 7 cal figure, agile and extremely graccf in her movements; with soft skin t olive hue long black hair, and dar . deep, lustrous eyes. Her name W : Juanita, and her Spanish blood was ( , luted with the aboriginal America | The man she killed could have pick > her up with one hand and tossed h 2 into the Tuba River.
 # Although Joe Cannon was stalws
 Britisher, he could not let the immort